how did this even happen...

[mooneye]

It wasn't a bad sort of place. Lots of things to do and people to see. Plenty of freedom to dart over the rooftops and down the alleys--or out of the village and into the woods and rocky wild places beyond. Obito liked Michi no Sato.

He had stopped for lunch and was eating at a table outside the restaurant, watching people walk past. The food was good. The cold breeze was nice. Ah, yes. Years and years trapped in a cave with a crazy old man and a bunch of plant monsters--it had left him really able to appreciate the little things.

[ooc: here is an AU Obito in his twenties. Got through the time with Madara, and Rin's death, but didn't go completely evil after all of it...]

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[bunsofsteel]

"Ah!" She lets out a delighted laugh, both hands clasping front of her chest so she's ready to try to dispel it if he wants her to try. "It must have been when I let go of your hand, right? That's the earliest opportunity."

She's not all that talented at genjutsu herself, preferring to just stab her target full of holes before they even know she's there. A blink as she glances around, trying to see where his true form was, then--

"Oh," it's almost a gasp at the sight of the dragon, her eyes shining as she leans forward. "Oh Itachi, that's amazing..."

[youngesthokage]

He leaned forward, practically breathing the words into her ear. "You can touch it. Go on."

Then he straightened, the creature quiet, but making sounds in the moving grass as it moved over to them, watching them with a jade green eye as it got within arm's reach. "It's meant to be flashy."

[mooneye]

"I'm very impressed. You do our clan name proud with this sort of skill."

He watched the creature, the light and shadow on it, the grass bending around the sinuous form. Excellent.

[bunsofsteel]

It's almost reflex to shiver from Itachi's voice so close to her ear, and with the permission, she reaches out to brush her fingers over its form, laughing again with an almost childish wonder at the rub of scales. "Careful, Itachi-sama," she cautions, rubbing her fingers over it like she might a cat. "I might like you this way better~"

[youngesthokage]

"Ah, but where am I mm?" The dragon pressed into her hand in a flex of smooth warm scales, twisting around to breathe on her hands as it examined her more closely, a clawed leg brushing against her pant leg. "I'm not the dragon."

He looked to Obito and hummed. "I do more proud than just the clan." His tone was soft, but very firm. "I don't use my clan name for official matters, typically." He looked at him for a moment, then quirked his lips. "But thank you."

[mooneye]

"Do you? Well." And maybe it was clear for a moment that Obito had just a smidgen more loyalty to the clan than he did to the village. Just--a smidgen. And he nodded at the thanks. "It's very good, anyway. Why a dragon?"

[bunsofsteel]

"Hmmm..." She hums and keeps trying to sneak pets to the dragon whenever she could, treating it just as she would any real animal she was trying to befriend. Even so, she focuses her Chakra, working to try to find him in the illusion he'd created. "Maybe... There!"

Immediately she spins, a senbon in her fingers as if by magic as she lets it fly toward Obito and over his shoulder. It was less sensing and more an educated guess; if Sharingan could see through illusion, then there was no reason for Itachi to bother hiding when he could just speak with his cousin from there.

[youngesthokage]

The senbon was caught, winking out like it hadn't been there without 'Itachi' moving. "Tenten, while he might have been able to dodge, there are nicer ways." There was amusement in his words though.

"I do. I like to repay those who actually valued me." It was a low, firm murmur before he looked back to the dragon. "I thought a dragon would be pretty, and a unicorn wouldn't be to either of your tastes."

[mooneye]

He didn't move or flinch as the senbon sailed past--though he phased out, losing solidity half on reflex. If there were going to be weapons flying about, he figured, might as well. He smiled crookedly at Tenten. "Good aim." A pause. "I hope."

And he looked at Itachi, smiling. "It's very pretty... though I wouldn't have minded a unicorn either."

[bunsofsteel]

"If I wanted to hit you, it wouldn't have gone over your shoulder," she lets him know with all confidence, though she only licks her lips, giving the clearing another glance. Was that another part of the genjutsu, that weird flicker? She'd frown, but right now, figuring out where Itachi was took precedence.

"In that case..." She lets her fingers run over the dragon one more time as she pushes herself to her feet. "Uchiha-san, don't move a centimeter."

With that, she focuses her Chakra in her feet to leap into the air, hands diving beneath the cut of fabric on her pants to draw two smaller scrolls and toss them into the air to unfurl around her. It's an easy, practiced motion to nick the edge of her thumb with her teeth and start summoning weapons, hands moving faster than sight as she twirls in midair. Kunai and a kodachi flit by on either side of Obito's head, the other weapons flying with seeming abandon to impale the ground every few inches, leaving no room to stand without getting hit or leaving an open space. Or that was the plan, anyway.

[youngesthokage]

"Well, it wasn't your tastes I was heavily weighing for my choice Obito-nii." He then moved, unwilling to be still to get hit, and the visible him neatly set to deflecting the weapons, though not -at- Obito, of course. The dragon, on the other hand, immediately took to the air to avoid the hail of metal.

[mooneye]

He stayed still during the hail of weaponry. Not that it mattered, he could have stepped into it and let it all ghost through him. But he was curious to see where the pointy things would fall, anyway. If any of it might knick through him accidentally, and if the little trick would work and flush Itachi out.

"Hmph." And he just watched his cousin and Tenten.

[bunsofsteel]

It wouldn't nick him at all, if he stayed still. One hundred needles, one hundred bullseyes. Avoiding something as large as a person was child's play for her. Still in the air, she twists a certain way to bring one particular seal into view, swiping her thumb across it without hesitation to unleash what almost looked like a Chinese dragon, almost like the one Itachi'd summoned himself, a fiery, roaring mass built of burning tags and wire frame.

With that unleashed as a distraction, she doesn't have to watch it, knowing it'll go exactly where she directed it. Instead, she redoubles the amount of metal flying through the air, landing for only a moment before drawing another scroll and leaping up again. Mostly kunai go through the air this time, flying over Obito's head and then each being hit by another kunai, sending them slamming into the only blind spot from earlier -- Obito's shadow.

"Maybe I like unicorns, Itachi-sama~" she teases as she comes back down to the ground, landing effortlessly in the two spaces she'd left for her own feet, flushed with exertion. Had it worked?

[youngesthokage]

The visible him panted a bit and laughed. "Then you should have said so. If you -really- do." Then he promptly dissolved into a murder of crows. After all, he hadn't entirely dodged everything and a clone could only hold its shape so well.

Itachi, meanwhile, eyed Tenten before creeping back onto the field, wary of another barrage.

[mooneye]

Obito stayed still, impressed by all of this. Was that a battle axe? He turned his head to survey the array of weapons, though his gaze did not flick toward Itachi.

[bunsofsteel]

She stays still for a moment, eyes closed and just listening, trying to find something out of place about the genjutsu. She'd managed to get the visible one to disappear, so that just meant him left, at least for now. There wasn't time to analyze the entire situation completely. There were two options; either Itachi was within range, or he wasn't. It was that simple.

Mentally, she takes stock of what weapons she has left. Enough for two more smaller barrages like these ones, or one massive barrage that everything would ride on. No time.

"Well, it's thanks to you that I'd never get to meet a real one, you know~" She throws that out there as a distraction, then hurls herself into the air again, scroll completely unfurled as another hail of weaponry flies through the air, filling the remainder of the gaps on the ground, as far as was within her range. If she didn't get him with this, she'd have to admit defeat.

[youngesthokage]

Crap. He couldn't retreat back fast enough, so he simply had to defend, eyes narrowing as he moved making it seem like the weapons were falling normally as he moved instead of being displaced as they actually were.

[mooneye]

Ah. She was going to catch that, he thought. Though he didn't glance over and give it away. This was fun.

[bunsofsteel]

Anyone else, and he'd probably have a shot, but she knew exactly where her weapons should be landing within a centimeter. She waits until the barrage is finished to scan the area as if she didn't know where he was, hand dropping to her thigh to grab one of the kunai from it.

"Alright, you got me," she concedes, pivoting quickly in place. Turning in a complete circle as if searching, before loosing the kunai toward where she knew he was, as easy as breathing. "Not~"

[youngesthokage]

His fingers snatched that kunai out of the air as he let himself fall into visibility. "When did this turn into a sparring match?"

[mooneye]

Obito gives a short laugh, casting a look around at the training area that is now carpeted with weapons. Sparring... hmm.

[bunsofsteel]

A panting laugh as she picks her way quickly through the mess of weaponry, moving in close to take that kunai back as her nose brushes against his. "Maybe because you wouldn't let me see a unicorn~" she teases again, just lightly brushing her lips over his before falling back, flushed with exertion.

[youngesthokage]

He laughed and ran his fingers down her cheek. "You had but to ask and I would have given you one Tenten, you know that, don't you?" It was a low hum, and he looked at her through his lashes before his gave flit to the grass. "I know this isn't all your weaponry."

[mooneye]

Oh, those crazy kids. He watched them lean together and then looked away, starting to walk among--and straight through once in a while--the spikes and barbs, just appreciating the variety the same way he would appreciate a lot of wild flowers.

[bunsofsteel]

"Mm..." She nuzzles against his fingers and leans in close, slipping the kunai back into its tape where it belongs. "Only the scrolls. You made me use all three of my backup scrolls, you know. I'd dressed light." Her hand trails up his shoulder and up to give him another brief kiss. "I did like the dragon more though~"

If Obito weren't here, there'd likely be a very different outcome, but she forces herself to pull back, intending to head to retrieve the fallen scrolls and seal her weapons back where they belonged. A beat as she stares at the older Uchiha and frowns. "What're you doing, Uchiha-san?"